BISMARCK (AP) -- A proposal to give human rights to a fertilized egg has been defeated in the North Dakota Senate.
Senators voted 29-16 to reject the proposal. It sought to establish "personhood" status to "any organism with the genome of homo sapiens."
Edinburg Sen. Curtis Olafson says the proposal would make it difficult for doctors to treat problem pregnancies, because the unborn child and its mother would have equal rights.
A handful of states are considering similar proposals, and the measure has generated a intense lobbying campaign from abortion opponents and people who favor abortion rights.
